"He plays physical," Davis said. "But at the same time, he cries to the referees like a little sissy all the time. Don't talk to the refs, just play."

Davis, the former Heat center who spends plenty of time in the weight room, said Mourning expects a double standard when bumps are traded.

"He's been crying in the league since I've seen him," Davis said. "If he doesn't get a few calls, he's going to cry to the ref.

"It's like he'll throw a cheap shot at you, but if you get physical with him, it's like you're doing something illegal with him. He says he's in the weight room, so he can push and shove. Well, we're in the weight room, too."

Mourning took his share of shoves in the Heat's 96-80 victory, earning 18 free throws.

"If Terry got hit the way I got hit, I think he'd complain, too," Mourning said after closing with 29 points to Davis' two. "I felt like I was in the WWF out there."

Despite his complaints, Mourning said the key is to continue to keep his anger in check.

"I can't retaliate like I did last year," he said, alluding to his playoff ejection against New York's Larry Johnson. "All I can do is take the bumps."

After spending Monday talking about the need for Rex Walters to accept the defensive challenge against Mitch Richmond, coach Pat Riley instead opened with 6-foot-4 Walters guarding 6-11 Randell Jackson, allowing small forward Dan Majerle to take his nightly defensive challenge, this time against Richmond.

Walters said it was the first time he had guarded a 6-11 opponent.

"It's a lot more fun than it would have been guarding Mitch Richmond," Walters said after Jackson scored eight and Richmond 25.

Heat interest

Had the Heat been able acquire forward Clarence Weatherspoon from Golden State in a sign-and-trade transaction for Brent Barry, the Wizards believe the Heat then would have pursued Washington forward Ben Wallace as a free agent. Instead, the Heat had to use its primary free-agent salary-cap exception on Weatherspoon. "I knew they were interested," Wallace said. "I was looking around and they were one of the teams looking at me." Wallace closed with 13 rebounds in his 20 minutes. ...

Riley said Dennis Rodman's decision to sign with the Lakers instead of pursuing the Heat was of little relief. "I really didn't give it much thought," Riley said. "I think we came to closure on that a couple of weeks ago." Of Rodman and the Lakers, Riley said, "You don't know how it's going to play out."

Screws remain

Swingman Blue Edwards, signed by the Heat as a free agent two months after he broke his left hand, said he has been advised to leave the screws in place at least through the summer.

"Both doctors said they would like to see more healing across the fracture line," Edwards said.